Quote:
Originally Posted by mkpdavies
If the stupid Germans hadn't have listened to Hitler and the stupid British hadn't have listened to Churchil, we wouldn't have kicked the **** out of each other over big egos and their powermongering.
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There was no moral equivalence between the two though - Britain, for all its faults, was a liberal democratic society and Germany was ruled by the Nazis. Confronting Nazism was the only option for us.
Nor was it a matter of Churchill's ego. In fact, Churchill did not take over as prime minister until some 8 months into the war. He became prime minister because he fitted what we needed to prosecute the war at that time. (The alternative choice, Halifax, might well have been inclined towards cutting a deal with Hitler, which would have been a disaster.)
Churchill knew when he took over what the stakes were and that is why he said his policy was victory
at all costs. This was about freedom and civilisation, not a war of egos. It was very costly for Britain and the Empire but ultimately it was necessary so I share what I take to be Tom Wilde's dismay in his earlier post.